Trustees

Ian Grosvenor (Chair)

Ian is Professor of Urban Educational History and Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor for Cultural Engagement at the University of Birmingham. Ian has a longstanding interest in history and has been actively involved in local history projects including curating the ‘Children’s Lives’ exhibition at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery in 2012. He was also co-convenor of Black Pasts, Birmingham Futures 1999-2008.He is author of numerous articles and books on the history of education and childhood. He is the current chair of the Friends of Birmingham Archives and Heritage, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a member of the West Midlands Regional Committee of the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Mohammed Rahman

Mohammed is a Partner within KPMG’s Corporates Risk Consulting practice, responsible for IT Audit and Advisory services to a number of KPMG’s global clients. Mohammed is also the UK head of ENR (Energy and National Resources) for Risk Consulting. He has been working in Risk Consulting for 25 years with experience in both Europe and the US and is a qualified Chartered Accountant. His key skill is managing the IT risk faced by global organisations, especially around major ERP roll outs and when these systems de-stabilise a business.

Councillor Muhammad Afzal

Cllr Afzal was first elected to the City Council in 1982 and has held many senior roles in Birmingham City Council as Chair of Committees and has particularly concentrated on Human Resources and appointment systems.

Deborah de Haes

Debby is an independent management consultant who set up her own business six years ago after nearly ten years in a global management consultancy firm. She specialises in two key areas: NHS Trust Board Governance issues (behaviour and process), and Museums’ skills evaluation and development. Her work is focused on helping organisations maintain and improve effectiveness in times of major transition. Debby is from Birmingham and studied History at Oxford. She worked in Birmingham for many years and was formerly Chair of the Friends of Birmingham Museums. She is also a Bishops’ Inspector for Theological Training in the Church of England, particularly in the areas of finance and governance.

David Lewis

David Lewis graduated from London University in 1959 and qualified as a Chartered Surveyor in 1961. He formed his own firm of Chartered Surveyors in 1964 and has held a number of public company positions in the UK. He was Managing Director of Cavendish Land Company to 1973 and of Hampton Trust plc to 1987, and from 1989 to 1995 was Chairman of Molyneux Estates plc. He is Chairman of various privately controlled investment companies and his family interests include a wide-ranging collection of works of art of which a significant proportion is on loan to public bodies, museums and institutions in the UK and abroad. He was a founder Governor of the Harris City Technology College, Croydon 1990 to 2009. He is Deputy Chairman of the Board of the London Jewish Cultural Centre and he is also Co-chair of the Commission for Looted Art in Europe. He is a member of the Board of the Jewish Museum.

Jan Teo

Jan Teo is Chief Executive of Birmingham Royal Ballet. She studied history at Cambridge University, and worked at Deutsche Bank as a Director and Chief Operating Officer for Service Centre operations in Europe, based in Birmingham, before taking up her current role. Jan draws on extensive commercial experience of planning and executing strategy having been formally a senior leader at Legal and General, Barclays Bank, RAC Motoring Services, Lex Transfleet and the Fraikin Group, working in Service and Business Transformation Director roles. She is Chair of Birmingham Museums Trust’s Finance and Performance Committee, and is also a Director of Birmingham Museums Trading Limited. She played an important part in the annual Deutsche Bank Creative Awards, and the Women in European Business diversity group. At the invitation of Sir Albert Bore, Jan led a workshop at the 2012 Cultural Summit, and also sits on a steering group of Birmingham’s Creative Partnership Board looking at alternative funding models for arts and creative businesses.

Councillor Randal Brew

Randal Brew was born in Birmingham and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1968. He was a partner in Hill Vellacott, which eventually became Chantrey Vellacott, and in 1993 started his own practice, Randal Brew & Co., based in the Jewellery Quarter of Birmingham. In 2008 he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by West Midlands Society of Chartered Accountants. He was awarded an OBE in 1991 for public and political services. From 1987 to 1995 Randal served as a Councillor in Longbridge Ward. He then had a break from active politics until 2004 when he was elected as a Councillor to serve the residents of Northfield Ward. Randal served as Lord Mayor of Birmingham in 2007/08. He is currently a trustee of the CBSO, The Library of Birmingham and Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery; he is also a director of Acivico.